Dania looked unconvinced, but Janik ignored her to continue his train of thought.
“That said, I suspect that the possibility of Mel-Aqat being the Place of Imprisonment for one of these fiend lords is not irrelevant to what we’re doing here. Dania said that Krael and Maija were looking for the Tablet of Shummarak in Karrnath. I told you before that the Tablet is an ancient inscription that describes what we’ve just been talking about—the fiends that ruled the world in ancient times, and the couatls that imprisoned them in the earth. Thanks to Krael stealing the most important books from my library, I have no idea whether there’s a specific connection between the Tablet and Mel-Aqat, but it seems pretty obvious there’s a general connection. Both of them are connected to these ancient fiends.”
Auftane interrupted. “So you think Krael and Maija were looking for the Tablet so they could use it to free the fiend imprisoned at Mel-Aqat?”
“I think that’s possible, yes,” Janik said. “Although I still have no idea how much Maija is involved in all of this. I only know what Dania told me.”
“We have no evidence that she is here with Krael,” Dania said. “Assuming she’s still alive, she would have slowed the party down.”
“Unless she was also riding in the palanquin with that necromancer,” Mathas added.
“Not very likely,” Janik said. “No, I don’t think Maija is here. But the other piece is these zakya warriors. Again, I think there’s some connection to Mel-Aqat, but I’m not sure what it means. We’re relatively close to Mel-Aqat, close enough that the horn might have been meant for someone there. But we didn’t see any fiends there last time. So does that mean that the imprisoned rajah has been freed, and these zakyas are serving him? But then what’s Krael doing here?”
Janik heaved a deep sigh. “Oh, it makes my head ache. This is the sort of problem best addressed in a quiet library, not out in the wild.”
“And what are we going to do about that horn?” Dania added, casting a wary glance toward the tower nearby. They were mostly shielded from the view of anyone in the tower, but they had hardly been careful about hiding since the first attack of the rakshasas. “Do you think we should attack the tower, Janik?”
“I think it all depends on what’s in there. Mathas?”
“Of course, Janik,” Mathas said. “I will require some time.” He turned toward the tower and closed his eyes, beginning a low chant and tracing complex symbols in the air with his hands.
Janik turned to Auftane. “You did something to your weapon that made it more effective against them. What was that? I felt like I was stabbing them with a spoon instead of my sword.”
“Like many creatures of evil,” Dania said before Auftane could answer, “these fiends are susceptible to holy might. Without that power behind your blows, your sword could not pierce their defenses.”
“So we know Dania’s black-and-white interpretation of events,” Janik said, looking at Auftane. “I want to hear yours, Auftane. You’re no paladin. What did you do to your mace?”
“Well, Dania’s interpretation is correct,” the dwarf replied. “More or less. The world is full of opposing powers, and it’s simple enough to find one power to use against another. When you’re fighting a creature of cold, you make your weapon fiery. And when you’re fighting fiends, you make it holy.”
“But how do you do it?”
Auftane laughed. “That’s what I do. Everything has magic in it—it’s just a matter of adjusting it to get the effect you want. It’s relatively easy to do, if you only need it to last a short time. With enough time and the right materials, you can make it permanent.”
“So you could do it to my sword?”
“Sure,” the dwarf said, “for about an hour and a half.”
“Long enough for us to clear out that tower.”
Mathas made a last dramatic gesture and fell silent, standing like a statue with his eyes closed. The others watched him in silence for several moments, then he began to speak.
“I didn’t see anything between here and the tower,” Mathas announced. “There’s not much to the tower at all—from this side it looks mostly intact, but if you go around the other side, the walls are crumbled away. There’s one more fiend by the doorway, it looks like—yes, there’s another one perched on a ledge higher up, looking toward us. With an enormous horn. I think that’s all, just those two.”
“Go ahead and send the eye around in a wider circle,” Janik said. “Let’s make sure there aren’t more hiding in the hills.”
“Very well,” the elf said. After a short silence, he said, “No, nothing. Looks like we’re clear.”
“Great,” said Janik. “Let’s go get those two.”
“Wait, Mathas,” Dania said. “Can you see if there’s a way for us to approach the tower under cover? Can we circle behind somehow?”
“Hold on,” Mathas said. “I’m not sure … yes, perhaps. If we start going that way—”
Without opening his eyes, Mathas pointed away from the tower, to where a shallow gulley ran down from the level spot where they stood.
“—we should be able to come around more or less from behind. I think we can get fairly close before we come into view.”
“Excellent,” Dania said.
“Good thinking, Dania,” Janik said. “Are we ready?” Mathas’s eyes fluttered open, and he nodded.
“Here,” Auftane said, “let me have your sword.”
Janik’s left hand dropped to the scabbard at his belt before he realized that he still held the blade in his right. He wiped it clean on the dead necromancer’s robe before handing it, hilt first, to the dwarf.
Auftane took the sword, holding it gingerly in his hands. He dipped his thumb into a small jar he had produced from one of the many pouches at his belt, and began tracing glyphs and symbols on the blade.
“It was faster when he did it before,” Janik said with an apologetic glance at Mathas, who grinned.
“I can do it faster, but it takes a lot out of me,” Auftane said, continuing to trace symbols on the sword and sounding a bit distracted. “In the thick of battle, it’s worth it. Since we have the time, I might as well take it.”
“Fair enough,” Janik said.
A quarter of an hour later, they were making their way up another gully toward the back side of the tower. As Mathas had described, the ancient tower was now little more than a single, curved wall facing the north. The fiends had erected a wooden ladder leading up to a small ledge marking what must once have been the tower’s roof. There was barely enough room for the creature that stood up there, and it kept one hand on the wall as if ready to catch itself in case the ledge crumbled beneath its feet. The zakya kept its eyes glued to the north, clearly still expecting Janik’s party to emerge from hiding in that direction.
They came into view of the tower within a stone’s throw of the two fiends. Mathas started the battle by engulfing them in a white blast of frigid air. Frost caked their armor and fur as they roared in surprise and pain. Janik and Dania rushed forward and the zakya on the ground ran to meet them, while the one on the upper ledge made its way quickly but carefully down the ladder, the rungs slick with ice.
Before the second one finished its descent, Janik and Dania had flanked the first zakya and sent it sprawling on the ground. Janik gave an admiring glance at his sword, which no longer felt like a blunt implement. Whatever Auftane had done had proven quite effective—his second blow had pierced straight to the fiend’s heart, killing it instantly.